By the Firelight
by SakuraHottie13
Summary: Still a secret kept in the dark; a love confession by the firelight. Set in SOHO verse


A/N: Set in SOHO verse, takes place after "Between Brothers".

Disclaimer: You already know the deal….

It had been a long day. The Thundercats had left the elephant village a week ago to start looking for a village that might be able to help Panthro, only to get lost in another forest; having to proceed slowly to continuously check his wounds, and because Panthro didn't trust Tygra to drive too fast considering the tiger's "reckless handling of [Panthro's] 'baby'". The Thunderkittens and Snarf were rendered to nothing more than a never-ending fit of giggles at the panther's fits and shrieks whenever Tygra got an itchy accelerator paw. Lion-O sat next to his brother trying to get the sword to show him a village that might help, however as usual; it seemed that he was having a little trouble seeing exactly where they were supposed to go.

"Note to self, next town we get to; buy a map." Tygra snickered.

"Shut it."

"Yes my Lord, whatever you say." The eldest brother tried to stifle his chuckles when Lion-O shot him a death glare.

"You're not helping."

"Of course I am; I'm driving!" Tygra pressed down on the accelerator giving the tank some juice.

"Hey Tiger, when I figure out how to punch something without the use of my arms, your pretty face is gonna be the first thing I hit!" Panthro shouted from his perch sticking out of the roof.

"Yeah, Yeah, fine, I'll slow it down, Scaredy-cat."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Panthro, nothing at all."

"That's right Princy." Panthro sneered.

"Maybe we should stop here for the night." Cheetara sat on top of the tank, "It'll be dark soon enough." Tygra looked for the signal from Lion-O then slowed the vehicle to a stop. The kittens and Snarf busted out of the tank, crawling on Panthro's head for leverage, enjoying their freedom.

"You two go get firewood." Lion-O sent the kittens off, but not without a small hissy fit from Kat.

"I'll look for food. You boys don't burn the forest down."

"Be careful." Cheetara walked away, nodding gently at her beau's whispered warning. Tygra and Lion-O jumped into the tank and started pulling out blankets. Since their little episode in the astral plane, there had been a small peace between the brothers, one that neither brother was eager to break. Before long both the kittens and Cheetara had returned and the latter was cooking up the fish she had caught in the nearby stream.

"So Tygra, do you need your whip to turn invisible." Kit asked, her eyes resembling the look he'd seen on many young girls in Thundera. He smirked and watched her cheeks turn red.

"Not at all Kitten."

"What's it like, when you go invisible?"

"The same as being seen, nothing really changes except of course, you can't see me." The tiger took a quick bite of his before the young girl asked him a barrage of other questions, asking him how he was so good with a gun, why he got seasick, if he really did beat Lion-O at everything, and so on and so forth. When it was time for them all to sleep Kit decided to place her sleeping bag as close to Tygra as she could, without completely ditching Kat, which was literally nestled in his side with Kat and Snarf close by. Tygra sat up after most of the group was asleep, watching over them until he felt the strings of exhaustion. He turned his head at the rustling sound in the bushes, grabbing his gun in case the visitor meant trouble. His ears twitched, recognizing the light footsteps as Cheetara's, and laid his weapon down.

"Looks like someone's gotten her first crush." The feline raised her eyebrow at the small cub leaning on her mate.

"Huh, yeah."

"Be careful with the encouragement, we don't need your infamous flirting skills getting over worked." She smirked at him.

"Why Babe, I think you're jealous." Tygra commented, his signature "alley-cat" smirk glittering across his face.

"If I was I wouldn't give you the satisfaction of knowing it." She offhandedly remarked, "Your ego is big enough, wouldn't want to inflate it so much that you can't lift your head off the ground."

"Jealous."

"Watch it Tiger." She gave a mock glare in warning. Tygra lifted his hands in an innocent gesture; he was not about to get a death stare from a cat that could whip his tail 7 ways from Sunday, as he admitted to Kit, much to then kitten's enjoyment. He lifted up, carefully placing the kitten on his blanket to support her head. He walked over, wrapping his hands around the cheetah, and pulling her close to his body.

"You know you can't be using that nickname when its dark and everyone's a sleep, Pussy-cat." She leaned into his embrace and stroked his bare chest.

"And why not…Tiger?" she smirked, knowing full well what stroking his fur did to him.

"You are so evil." He purred, nuzzling the soft fur of her neck.

"So I've been told, so I've been told." She giggled as he began leaving love bites on her neck. They stayed locked in each other's arms just watching as the embers danced, creating shadows that flowed with them. Cheetara loved when Tygra held her, he made the nightmares of her childhood go away; he always had. Everything she'd become was because of him and his faith in her. They understood each other. He understood her loneliness, even if he was adopted at an early age, he knew what it was like to have the odds stacked against him, to have people doubt him, to have to fight against people who said he wasn't good enough. Just like she knew what it felt like to not fit in, how devastating it was to lose a father figure; the only father they'd ever known. She knew how it felt for everyone to say that she didn't deserve to be where she was, because she wasn't born into the right family. She knew the pain of wondering if her real parents would be proud of what she'd done. They were like two sides of a coin, though they were different in their own way they understood so deeply the other's plight. Tygra ran a hand over her thick hair, loving the way it sometimes tangled between his claws.

"I love you." He whispered into her ear,, licking the tip not as a sign of arousal, but a simple gesture of affection.

"I love you too." She leaned closer to him. "But if you ever, ever, give that smirk to an older female, cat or not-"

"I love you." He smirked, shutting her up with a kiss. Cheetara tried to fight the loving, skillful way his lips caressed hers; tried to fight against the way his claws gently massaged the small of her back. Tried against fate to ignore the way he pulled her against him, mouth to mouth, chest to chest. After a few seconds, she stopped trying and let her partner kiss her senseless. When they broke apart, his eyes glittered like the embers and flames burning bright; a look of adoration plastered on his grinning face. A look Cheetara decided, she always wanted to see.

A/N: I'm so happy that Cheetara and Tygra officially got together! 'Between Brothers' is officially my favorite episode and is like the ultimate bragging episode to all of us who ship TygraxCheetara (I have soo totally got to learn the abbreviation for them). Hope you enjoyed this!


End file.
